Something Precious
by IHeartFantasy
Summary: Alice's uncle Oswald said something to her that made her think of her past and how things came to be how they did. AU Oneshot Rated T for some sad events


**Hey, this is a oneshot that just came to me a few days ago. Not sure how it ended up like it did, but I like it.**

**I hope you enjoy this oneshot anyway, even if it is a little random for me to make a oneshot in the first place. XD**

**I've been forgetting to do this lately, so...**

**Disclaimer: _Pandora Hearts _is the property of Jun Mochizuki. I have nothing to do with the series except for the fact I use the characters for my own stories. That's all.**

**Oh, and good news! I put up my first crossover! It's of Pandora Hearts and Yu Gi Oh! I know right? _Yu Gi Oh?_ What possessed me to make a PH/YGO crossover? I'll explain. A while ago a friend of mine got me into Yu Gi Oh The Abridged Series. So the personalities of the people from YGO in my story are by the YGOAS personalities. LOVE that series. XD So if you like Pandora Hearts and Yu Gi Oh The Abridged Series, check out that story! (The full summary is on my profile).**

**Sorry if I advertised that story, but not a lot of people read crossover stories... Or they just don't look at the section of stories... But whatever! I don't care! (...Maybe). XD**

**Anyway, here's the oneshot!**

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Something Precious

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Oneshot

Nothing lasts forever. That is the truth for everything in the world. Everything eventually dies, and everything is eventually born again. A constant cycle of birth and death repeatedly.

Alice found it frustrating. What was the point of living if you eventually died?

She guessed the answer to the question was living your life the best you could. Do what you want, and live your dream. Even if you will not able to succeed, at least you tried.

Something happened to Alice today. It was not a good or bad thing. It was just the event itself just made her think. The event caused her to wonder why something so small could be so important to her.

Alice turned and faced the object she was thinking about; it was a small black plush rabbit doll in a red coat with a white bow. Its body was tattered and scrapped from being played with so much. One of the arm's seams was slightly broken causing the arm to poke out, and if Alice pulled on the arm, the arm would become detached from its body. The only thing that remained the same when she first got it was the rabbit's eyes; the eyes were bright red and seemed to always be shining.

Her sister Alyss had an identical plush toy, except her sister treated it much better than she had. Her plush rabbit retained its youth; the body was not tattered and was not messy. Alyss had treated it like a small glass china doll; it still sat in the same place she put in all those years ago.

Alice had done the opposite. She had treated her doll roughly; she had always thrown it around all over the place and sat on it and such. The state the rabbit doll was in now was because of that.

Alice sighed; she wished that perhaps she should not have done that. Maybe if she had treated it a lot better, it would not be in the state it is today. Alice could still remember when she first got it…

_Her mother had called for the both of them; she said she had a surprise for them. Their sixth birthday was in a few days, and so their mother had wanted them to give them something._

_Alice pulled Alyss along, her sister protested to running to quickly._

"_We don't have to run all the way there!" Alyss cried out._

"_But whatever Mommy has might be gone by then!" Alice protested._

_Alyss looked at her sister quizzically. "But Mom said she was giving it to us," she said. "Why would it be gone?"_

_It was funny. Alice was the older twin of them both but she continued to call their mother "Mommy"._

"'_Cause what if Daddy hides it?" Alice said. "Then it would be hide-and-go-seek! And I don't wanna do that!"_

_Alice also called her father "Daddy". _

In the present, however, she called her father "Father" instead of "Daddy". Alice did not know why she called her parents by those names back then. Alyss had suggested it was because she was very childish. It was true; Alice _had _been very childish and at times still was. Some things do not change.

_The two twins entered the room; their mother was sitting on the couch._

_Lacie's red eyes were glistening and her long, black hair was swept behind her back, she looked beautiful._

"_There you two are!" she said. "I was waiting for _someone _to come pull you along…"_

"_What does that mean?" Alice asked._

"_It means she wanted me to pull you two in here!"_

_Levi Baskerville snuck behind his two daughters and took them both in his arms, the two girls shrieked in surprise and laughter._

"_Hey!" Alice said. "Put me down!"_

"_Let go of me!" Alyss cried._

_Lacie laughed. "Alright Levi, that's enough," she said chuckling. "I think you spooked them."_

_Levi laughed and put them down._

"_Sorry if I scared you girls," he said. "You two are so adorable I can't help it."_

"_Hey! I'm not cute!" Alice said. "I'm strong!"_

_Levi laughed. "Last I checked, you're not a boy Alice," he said._

"_So?" Alice shouted. "I can punch as hard as one!"_

"_Alice, I don't think that's really an appropriate thing for a young lady of your age to say—"_

_Levi was cut off when Alice punched his stomach._

"_Ooooowww!" he cried out. "Jesus, Alice, what have you been eating? That hurt!"_

_Alice smiled triumphly. "That's what you get for saying something like that!" she shouted._

Even as a little girl, Alice had been a tomboy.

_Lacie laughed. "Oh, Alice," she said. "Both of you come over here. I have something for you."_

_The two girls approached their mother._

_Lacie brought out two black plush rabbit dolls with red eyes._

"_These are for you two," she said. "I saw them in the store the other day and couldn't resist them. They reminded me of you two, the two of you might be complete opposites but you are bonded because you are both sisters."_

_She gave the dolls to the girls._

"_I hope you take good care of them," she said. _

"_I will!" Alyss promised. "I'll never get it dirty!"_

Her sister had kept her promise, of course.

"_I'll try to," said Alice. "But don't give your hopes up!"_

_Lacie laughed. "I won't, Alice," she said. "I promise."_

To Alice, the rabbit doll she was given became a symbol of her happiness, she was always extremely happy to have it around her. She carried it everywhere with her; Lacie had said it was as if the rabbit doll was her own child.

In a way, it was true. Alice had named her rabbit doll "Oz", after her uncle Oswald.

Those times were Alice's happy times, because during that time it felt like nothing could go wrong. Nevertheless, of course, fate had to prove her wrong…

_Alice walked into the principle's office, she had been called down for something. Her sister was sitting in a seat. Seeing her sister, Alice sat next to her._

"_Am I in trouble again?" Alice asked. "I didn't do anything this time!"_

"_I don't think so," Alyss said. "It feels…different this time."_

Back then, Alice was a bit of a troublemaker. She had to be suspended a few times. One of the reasons why was because someone had made fun of her sister and Alice punched the kid in the face. The kid only got a black eye though, and nothing was broken or anything. Nevertheless, either way she had been suspended.

_Alyss was right. The atmosphere felt different from when Alice was normally called down to the office._

_The principle and their father Levi entered the room. Behind them, their uncle Oswald followed. Immediately, Alice could sense that something terrible had happened. _

_She stood up from her chair. "Did something happen?" she asked. _

_Levi motioned for Alice to sit down, she reluctantly did so._

"_Girls…" Levi said slowly. "I'm not sure how to say this, but… I am going to be straight with you._

"_Your mother died. She was in a car accident. I'm so, so sorry this happened to you…"_

_Alice could not believe it. Lacie was dead. How could she be _dead? _She had just seen her earlier that morning!_

"_How… Did it happen?" Alyss asked._

"_It was pretty quick. Lacie probably did not feel a thing when it happened," answered Oswald._

_Alice could not accept the fact. She clenched her fists tightly, and the threat of tears started to flow into her eyes. Her mother was _not _dead. They were making up the story; Lacie was probably well and alive. She would not accept it! She _refused _to accept it!_

"_You're lying!" she shouted. "Mommy… Mother is not dead! She is probably at home reading a book or something! You're lying!"_

_Levi looked at Alice sadly. "Alice, I know this hard to accept, but—"_

"_NO!" Alice shouted. "You're lying! It is a lie! A lie!"_

_Alice jumped off the chair and ran out the door. Levi called out her name as she did so; Alice ignored her father and continued running. She ran out of the door and into the playground. _

_Alice climbed onto the structure and hid inside the top of the tallest slide; she crouched down and began weeping. A few minutes later, she heard someone climb and sit next to her. Peeking out of her eye, Alice saw Levi gazing at her sadly; he must have dashed after her when she left the office._

"_Go away," she growled. "I don't want you here."_

_Levi sighed. "Alice, I know this is hard for you. The situation we are in is even hard for _me. _Just a few hours ago I said goodbye to Lacie, and then I get a call from work announcing that she's dead."_

_Levi's voice cracked._

"_Losing your mother is probably the worst thing to happen. You do not deserve this; _none _of us deserves this pain!" he whispered._

_He looked at Alice. "But it's going to be okay," he said. "Because I'm here for you now and so is Alyss and your uncle. Okay, Alice? We're all here for you."_

_Levi brought out Oz. "Even Oz is here for you."_

_Alice's eyes widened when she saw the stuffed rabbit. She took him from Levi and hugged him._

"_Yeah," she said. "Even Oz…"_

When her mother died, Alice had been in 5th grade. It was three years later when another tragedy struck the family.

_It was a quiet afternoon; Alice and her sister were watching TV. Levi was working on the computer._

_Suddenly there was a gunshot, and it sounded rather close to the manor._

_Immediately Levi took action._

"_Girls, I want you to call your uncle and go to his place," he said, walking over to a cabinet and doing the pass code on it._

"_What about you?" Alyss asked nervously. "If you stay here you could die!"_

"_I'm not letting you do this on your own!" Alice shouted, pulling out a gun from her belt._

_Alyss's eyes widened. "When did you have that on you?" she asked. "I didn't even see it!"_

"_In case something happened," Alice said._

_Levi narrowed his eyes at her. "Alice, I'm not going to ask where you got that," he said. "But I'm going to ask you to take care of your sister while I take care of the intruders."_

_There was a loud _SMASH _in the distance. The intruders had busted down the front door._

"_But Father…!" Alice said._

"_No buts!" Levi shouted. "I'm ordering you to take care of your sister!"_

"_But…!"_

"_It's what your mother would have wanted!"_

_Alice did not need to hear anymore of what Levi was saying. She took Alyss's hand and ran out of the room._

"_Father!" Alyss cried. "Be careful!"_

"_I'll take care of her, Daddy!" Alice called back. "I promise!"_

_Levi smiled; he narrowed his eyes at the sound of footsteps thumping down the hall. He went behind the couch and waited for them to enter the room._

It was later when they found out that the men who broke into their house were after their father because he had done some dealings with their boss but never paid the money back.

Alice had to admit to herself that she had _known _what would happen to her father then. She had _known _it, and that was why even if he _did _die, she knew that her sister Alyss would not have anyone else close in the family to look after her if Alice had stayed behind with Levi.

Oswald did not count; he was only their uncle and did not really know the two girls.

Alice had done what Levi had said because she knew her mother would have wanted her to live so Alyss would not be alone. That is why she did what Levi told her.

What happened to her father was two years ago. After the incident, Alice and Alyss moved into Oswald's house, for he was their godfather.

Throughout all the sad times, Alice had relayed on Oz. It did not matter if he was a plush rabbit, whenever Alice was with the toy she could feel the spirit of her mother. She had kept Oz with her all this time because Oz was a symbol of her happiness, of her times with her parents and before everything went wrong.

_However, I suppose that was destiny for them_, Alice thought. _Because if those events had not happened, I would not have met my friends._

It was last year when Alice entered high school when she made friends with Gilbert Nightray, Sharon Rainsworth, and Elliot Nightray. Even that stupid Xerxes Break was her friend.

Her best friend though, was a boy named Oz Vessalius. When she heard his name for the first time, she knew it was fate.

_His name is like my Oz… My little plush rabbit doll…_

She had even met a cousin she did not even know she had. Leo Baskerville, who was the son of her uncle Oswald. Apparently, his mother Lottie traveled a lot, and Leo was a bookroom who read in his bedroom so that was why Alice and Alyss never saw him in Oswald's house.

The reason she was thinking about all this was that Oswald had told Alice something. Something that broke her heart.

"_Alice," said Oswald. "I think it's time you got rid of Oz."_

_Alice held Oz tightly in her arms. "I'm not getting rid of Oz!" she shouted. "I mean, I'm not putting him in the trash!"_

"_I didn't mean it like that," Oswald said quickly. "Alice, you're sixteen now. You are too old to be playing with dolls. Even Alyss gave hers away for charity."_

"_I'm not giving him away!"_

_Leo looked up from the book he was reading. "Why not give him to Lily?" he asked. "She loves Oz."_

Lily was his little sister. Lily loved Oz and always asked Alice if she could hold him.

"_Because Oz is my happiness," said Alice. "He's a symbol of my happiness before everything in my life went horribly wrong!"_

_Oswald understood. _

"_Alice, you're holding on to your grief and past," he said. "Isn't it time to let go of the past and move on?"_

_Alice was silent and she looked at the ground. "I'll think about it," she said, leaving the room._

This leads her to now. Looking out at the night sky with Oz sitting on the windowsill.

_Even if my parents are gone… Aren't my memories of them enough? Aren't they enough to hold them in my heart? Oz is not a symbol of my happiness; he is what I have wanted to believe he is. My happiness is what _I _make it. My own memoires, experiences, my story. My parents' story may be finished, but that does not mean I can end mine if I keep holding on to the past. I have to move onto the future and leave the past behind, make my own story, my own destiny._

Alice stood up. She made her decision.

She grabbed Oz and ran downstairs.

"Lily!" she called out.

Lily looked up to see Alice coming at her.

"Hey Alice!" she said. "Can I hold Oz?"

Alice smiled. "Yeah," she said. "In fact, you can have him."

"Wow! Really?"

"Yup! Take good care of him, now!"

"I will! I really will! Thanks so much, Alice!"

"No, Lily… Thank you…"


End file.
